Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

¹⁰⁵ Your words are a flashlight to light the path ahead of me and keep me from stumbling. ¹⁰⁶ I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again and again: I will obey these wonderful laws of yours.

¹⁰⁷ I am close to death at the hands of my enemies; oh, give me back my life again, just as you promised me. ¹⁰⁸ Accept my grateful thanks and teach me your desires. ¹⁰⁹ My life hangs in the balance, but I will not give up obedience to your laws. ¹¹⁰ The wicked have set their traps for me along your path, but I will not turn aside. ¹¹¹ Your laws are my joyous treasure forever. ¹¹² I am determined to obey you until I die.

^3-4 In the eighteenth year of his reign, King Josiah sent his secretary Shaphan (son of Azaliah, son of Meshullam) to the Temple to give instruction to Hilkiah, the High Priest:

“Collect the money given to the priests at the door of the Temple when the people come to worship. ^5-6 Give this money to the building superintendents so that they can hire carpenters and masons to repair the Temple, and to buy lumber and stone.”

⁷ (The building superintendents were not required to keep account of their expenditures, for they were honest men.)

⁸ One day Hilkiah the High Priest went to Shaphan the secretary and exclaimed, “I have discovered a scroll in the Temple, with God’s laws written on it!”

He gave the scroll to Shaphan to read. ^9-10 When Shaphan reported to the king about the progress of the repairs at the Temple, he also mentioned the scroll found by Hilkiah. Then Shaphan read it to the king. ¹¹ When the king heard what was written in it, he tore his clothes in terror. ^12-13 He commanded Hilkiah the priest, and Shaphan, and Asaiah, the king’s assistant, and Ahikam (Shaphan’s son), and Achbor (Michaiah’s son) to ask the Lord, “What shall we do? For we have not been following the instructions of this book: you must be very angry with us, for neither we nor our ancestors have followed your commands.”

¹⁴ So Hilkiah the priest, and Ahikam, and Achbor, and Shaphan, and Asaiah went to the Mishneh section of Jerusalem to find Huldah the prophetess. (She was the wife of Shallum—son of Tikvah, son of Harhas—who was in charge of the palace tailor shop.) ^15-16 She gave them this message from the Lord God of Israel:

“Tell the man who sent you to me that I am going to destroy this city and its people, just as I stated in that book you read. ¹⁷ For the people of Judah have thrown me aside and have worshiped other gods and have made me very angry; and my anger can’t be stopped. ^18-19 But because you were sorry and concerned and humbled yourself before the Lord when you read the book and its warnings that this land would be cursed and become desolate, and because you have torn your clothing and wept before me in contrition, I will listen to your plea. ²⁰ The death of this nation will not occur until after you die—you will not see the evil that I will bring upon this place.”

So they took the message to the king.

^2-3 No, God has not discarded his own people whom he chose from the very beginning. Do you remember what the Scriptures say about this? Elijah the prophet was complaining to God about the Jews, telling God how they had killed the prophets and torn down God’s altars; Elijah claimed that he was the only one left in all the land who still loved God, and now they were trying to kill him too.

⁴ And do you remember how God replied? God said, “No, you are not the only one left. I have seven thousand others besides you who still love me and have not bowed down to idols!”^[a]

⁵ It is the same today. Not all the Jews have turned away from God; there are a few being saved as a result of God’s kindness in choosing them. ⁶ And if it is by God’s kindness, then it is not by their being good enough. For in that case the free gift would no longer be free—it isn’t free when it is earned.

⁷ So this is the situation: Most of the Jews have not found the favor of God they are looking for. A few have—the ones God has picked out—but the eyes of the others have been blinded. ⁸ This is what our Scriptures refer to when they say that God has put them to sleep, shutting their eyes and ears so that they do not understand what we are talking about when we tell them of Christ. And so it is to this very day.

⁹ King David spoke of this same thing when he said, “Let their good food and other blessings trap them into thinking all is well between themselves and God. Let these good things boomerang on them and fall back upon their heads to justly crush them. ¹⁰ Let their eyes be dim,” he said, “so that they cannot see, and let them walk bent-backed forever with a heavy load.”